Data acquisition system for condition-based maintenance
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A wind farm comprising:
- a plurality of wind turbines, each wind turbine configured to generate electrical energy from wind; and
a plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems, each of said plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems being mounted on a separate associated one of said plurality of wind turbines and each data acquisition system comprising;
a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors being directly coupled to a separate respective component of said separate associated one of said plurality of wind turbines and configured to detect a parameter associated with a condition of said separate respective component or a component indirectly coupled thereto and to provide sensor data based at least in part on the parameter;
a plurality of separate interface modules, each of said plurality of separate interface modules being coupled to a separate associated one of said plurality of sensors and being configured to receive the sensor data from said separate associated one of said plurality of sensors, to analyze the sensor data, and to generate module output data based at least in part on the sensor data, said module output data comprising a representation of the condition of said separate respective component or said component indirectly coupled thereto;
a local data concentrator coupled to each of said plurality of separate interface modules, the local data concentrator configured to provide media access control (MAC) for one or more of said plurality of interface modules, to transmit commands to one or more of the plurality of interface modules, to receive module output data from one or more of the plurality of interface modules and to provide the received module output data to a server; and
a serial bus configured to couple the plurality of interface modules and the local data concentrator,wherein the server is configured to provide an estimate of a remaining useful life of a selected one of said separate respective components or a component indirectly coupled thereto of a selected one of said plurality of wind turbines to a user based at least in part on a representation of the condition of the selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Generally, a system and method consistent with the present disclosure may provide a relatively low cost, relatively robust data acquisition and analysis system useful for condition-based maintenance. The system may be useful for condition-based maintenance in industrial applications, e.g., of equipment and/or machinery. The industrial monitoring system may be used, for example, to monitor a condition of rotating machinery, e.g., a wind turbine. The system and method may include data analysis that may be useful for anticipating a need for maintenance, repair and/or replacement of one or more components.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A wind farm comprising:
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a plurality of wind turbines, each wind turbine configured to generate electrical energy from wind; and a plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems, each of said plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems being mounted on a separate associated one of said plurality of wind turbines and each data acquisition system comprising; a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors being directly coupled to a separate respective component of said separate associated one of said plurality of wind turbines and configured to detect a parameter associated with a condition of said separate respective component or a component indirectly coupled thereto and to provide sensor data based at least in part on the parameter; a plurality of separate interface modules, each of said plurality of separate interface modules being coupled to a separate associated one of said plurality of sensors and being configured to receive the sensor data from said separate associated one of said plurality of sensors, to analyze the sensor data, and to generate module output data based at least in part on the sensor data, said module output data comprising a representation of the condition of said separate respective component or said component indirectly coupled thereto; a local data concentrator coupled to each of said plurality of separate interface modules, the local data concentrator configured to provide media access control (MAC) for one or more of said plurality of interface modules, to transmit commands to one or more of the plurality of interface modules, to receive module output data from one or more of the plurality of interface modules and to provide the received module output data to a server; and a serial bus configured to couple the plurality of interface modules and the local data concentrator, wherein the server is configured to provide an estimate of a remaining useful life of a selected one of said separate respective components or a component indirectly coupled thereto of a selected one of said plurality of wind turbines to a user based at least in part on a representation of the condition of the selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus comprising:
a wind turbine configured to generate electrical energy from wind, the wind turbine comprising a separate associated one of a plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems, the separate associated one of said plurality of data acquisition systems comprising; a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors being directly coupled to a separate respective component of said wind turbine and configured to detect a parameter associated with a condition of said separate respective component or a component indirectly coupled thereto and to provide sensor data based at least in part on the parameter; a plurality of separate interface modules, each of said plurality of separate interface modules being coupled to a separate associated one of said plurality of sensors and being configured to receive the sensor data from said separate associated one of said plurality of sensors, to analyze the sensor data and to generate module output data based at least in part on the received sensor data, said module output data comprising a representation of the condition of said separate respective component or said component indirectly coupled thereto; a local data concentrator coupled to each of said plurality of separate interface modules, the local data concentrator configured to provide media access control (MAC) for one or more of said plurality of interface modules, to transmit commands to one or more of the plurality of interface modules, to receive module output data from one or more of the plurality of interface modules and to provide the received module output data to a server; and a serial bus configured to couple the plurality of interface modules and the local data concentrator, wherein the server is configured to provide an estimate of a remaining useful life of a selected one of said separate respective components or a component indirectly coupled thereto of the wind turbine to a user based at least in part on a representation of the condition of the selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of determining an estimate of a remaining useful life of a monitored component of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of wind turbine data acquisition systems, each of said plurality of wind turbine data acquisitions systems being mounted on a separate associated one of a plurality of wind turbines, each data acquisition system comprising; a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors being directly coupled to a separate respective component of said wind turbine; and a plurality of separate interface modules, each of said plurality of separate interface modules being coupled to a separate associated one of said plurality of sensors and being configured to receive sensor data from said separate associated one of said plurality of sensors; detecting a parameter associated with a condition of a selected one of the separate respective components or a component indirectly coupled thereto using an associated one of said plurality of sensors and providing sensor output data from said associated one of said plurality of sensors to a separate associated one of said plurality of interface modules based at least in part on the parameter; analyzing the sensor data; generating module output data based at least in part on the sensor output data, said module output data comprising a representation of the condition of said selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto; providing the module output data to a local data concentrator in response to a command from the local data concentrator, said local data concentrator being coupled to each of said plurality of separate interface modules and being configured to provide media access control (MAC) for one or more of said plurality of interface modules; providing the module output data to a server; and estimating the remaining useful life of the selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto based at least in part on a representation of the condition of the selected one of said separate respective components or said component indirectly coupled thereto, wherein the wind turbine is configured to generate electrical energy from wind. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification